Lee Ford Swanson, age 83, passed away on January 22, 2022 in Emerson Hospital, Concord, Mass. He was a long time resident of Sudbury,Mass, more recently in Musketahquid Village.

Lee was born in Malden on May 26,1938 to Milton and Olive Swanson. He is survived by his two adopted sisters: Mo Ching Yip and Jean Soda, her husband Greg, his nephew Eric Swanson and many descendants of his late brother Ray.

Lee moved with his family to Marlboro at a young age. His father took up the business of the Wayside Country Store in Marlboro, then purchased the store from the widow of Henry Ford in 1947. The structure was moved from the Sudbury Town center to Hager Pond on Route 20 near the Wayside Inn. Lee worked side by side with his father in the Wayside Country store business, and amassed a deep knowledge and history of antiquities and novelty items, especially of all things related to the Colonial era. Indeed, he learned to appraise antiquities and esoteric items that only a mind like his could appreciate. He shared his talent openly and was a wonderful storyteller.

After his father’s retirement and sale of the Wayside Country Store in 1971, Lee was instrumental in gathering and curating the collections and sharing his deep knowledge and expertise with the Sudbury Historical Society where he took on the role of Curator and Archivist. The Society honored him with an Honorary Lifetime Membership for his contributions At the same time, he was employed as the Archivist at Longfellow’s Wayside Inn where he emphasized the value of the Inn’s colonial identity, including donning traditional colonial garb at various local events and festivals, some featured in local news. Lee was Sudbury’s Town Historian from 2012-2019 when his health issues made it difficult to manage his work

Anyone who was acquainted with Lee also knew that he loved his community and he especially loved Sudbury where he lived and breathed the history of the area and had a gift for story telling. He was also active in the Sudbury Senior Center and especially the First Parish of Sudbury, Unitarian Universalist where he was a long time and devoted member, contributing ideas and leading fundraising tours. He served as a Trustee from 1994 to1997 and also served as liaison to the Massachusetts Historical Commission during the 1997 Meetinghouse Preservation Project. Tolling the bell was most important to him every September 11th and for memorial services. On happier occasions, he would peal the bell, especially on the day of April 19th, when the ringing bell would “gather the troops” to march to Concord

Lee was loyal to his friends, and kept life long friendships with various friends, regardless how far away they had moved from his home town.

A memorial service will be held at First Parish of Sudbury, Unitarian Universalist on April 2, 2022 at 11:00AM. Masks will be required. There will also be a zoom broadcast of the service. Please check fpsudbury.org for more informaiton.

Donations in his name may be made to First Parish of Sudbury, 327 Concord Rd, or the Sudbury Historical Society, 288 Old Sudbury Rd, both in Sudbury, MA 01776.

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